SECTION ON BEES AND ADDITIVES (Agenda Item 4a.)
28) The Committee recalled that its 28th session had advanced the provisions on livestock production to Step 8 while the provisions concerning bee production and the food additives and processing aids for livestock products were returned to Step 6 for further consideration. These sections and the comments received in response to CL 2000/16-FL were considered by the Working Group that met prior to the current Session. The Chairperson of the Working Group, Ms Ruth Lovisolo (Australia), presented the revised sections of the Draft Guidelines to the Committee and indicated that consensus had been reached on the revised text.
Beekeeping
29) In undertaking its work the Working Group noted, in particular, that the Codex Guidelines should be sufficiently flexible to enable all Codex Members to adapt the rules for beekeeping to national conditions. It was further noted that system control of organic beekeeping operations was essential to ensure compliance with the principles of organic production as set out in the Guidelines.
30) Amendments to the Section on bees included a change to the title of section for consistency to previously agreed text. The title would now read: ‘Beekeeping and bee products’. Members of the Working Group agreed that the text should include the following headings: general principles, conversion, origin of bees, placement of hives, health of the bees, management of hives, and record keeping.
31) The revised text takes into account a range of issues that will provide consumers with the necessary assurances about organic beekeeping and bee products. It was recognised that, while bees play a valuable role as pollinators, they also act as an indicator of the health of the environment. However, there are many threats to the organic status of bee products from collection sites that do not meet the organic requirements. The greatest concerns in this respect are sites that have been treated with conventional agricultural chemicals and genetically modified crops.
32) The Working Group agreed that there should be sufficient food supply for the bees to ensure that they do not forage into zones that could not comply with the organic requirements. It was also agreed that good management of hives should ensure that there is an adequate food supply retained in the hives for dormancy periods. Specific provisions for feeding the bee colonies were articulated for extenuating climatic circumstances that may limit the food supply.
33) In refining the text in relation to the health status of bees and hives preventative measures were emphasized. In this context, it was noted that the response to certain diseases would be determined by national regulations. The text was strengthened also to ensure that detailed record keeping included maps of hive movements.
34) In finalizing the text for beekeeping and bee products, certain consequential amendments were made to the ‘Minimum inspection requirements and precautionary measures under the inspection or certification system’ as set out in Annex 3, paragraphs 5 and 7 of the Step 8 text that was agreed at the last session of CCFL[7]. The Committee agreed with the revised text of the sections on beekeeping as proposed by the Working Group, for advancement to Step 8.
Food additives and processing aids for livestock products
35) The Committee was informed that there were differences of opinion among members of the Working Group in relation to the use of food additives and processing aids in processed organic products. Some delegates considered that food additives and processing aids should be restricted as far as possible and that such restrictions were stimulating the food industry to seek innovative technologies that would achieve compliance with the Guidelines.
36) Other delegates noted that consumers expect foods from conventional and organic sources to be presented in a certain way and that traits in food vary between areas where the foods are produced. They considered that consumers should not be deprived on a whole range of traditional food products from organic sources and that the food additives and processing aids allowed in the standards elaborated by Codex commodity committees, such as CCMMP, should also be permitted in the comparable organic product.
37) The major concerns before the Working Group related to the use of colouring agents, flavours, nitrates and nitrites in processed organic livestock products.
38) Further, it was found there were shortcomings in the criteria for additives and processing aids in the preparation or preservation of food as set out in Section 5 of the Guidelines (CAC/GL 32-1999) as they did not give sufficient guidance on the role of traditional substances or the need for their ongoing use in products carrying organic claims. Therefore, consensus was only achievable by agreeing to develop a limited and provisional list of food additives and processing aids for inclusion in a separate division within Tables 3 and 4. In view of the restrictive nature of these lists, a note was added in both instances to ensure that countries develop their own list that meet the expectations of their respective consumers. The Committee agreed with this approach and the text proposed for advancement to Step 8.
39) The Committee expressed its thanks to Ms Lovisolo and to the Working Group for their constructive contribution to the finalization of these two sections of the Draft Guidelines and for their considerable work on the Guidelines in recent years.
Status of the Draft Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods
40) The Committee advanced the Draft Guidelines (Beekeeping and Bee Products, and Food Additives and Processing Aids for Livestock Products) to Step 8 for adoption by the 24th Session of the Commission (see Appendix II).
